Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
Under the dark night, the girl was blankly looking at the world.
There was no one in that bleak, withered ground. There only seemed to be a ‘tsktsk’ sound echoing through the air, giving people goosebumps.
“Mr. Rhode? Marlene?”
Lize hesitantly took a step forward. She called on her comrade names in low voice, but she didn’t hear any reply. Where was this? Why was she here? Lize didn’t know the answer. She could only feel her heart beating fast and her breath getting unstable…
A drop of icy raindrops fell from the sky and onto her face.
It was raining?
Lize subconsciously touched the icy raindrops on her face. When she spread her hands, she found that her finger was covered with a bright red color. When she lifted her head to look up at the sky, she was stunned.
Above her, Marlene was looking at her with her wide eyes. Her body was being torn apart. Countless Wind Snakes were tearing her body apart with their sharp fangs. Marlene was hanging up in the sky like a broken puppet. Her hands were dangling and blood was flowing down from her fingertips, slowly dripping to the ground. Beside her, only Rhode’s head was left. His head was pierced by the Wind Snake’s sharp fangs and the light in his eyes were long gone. At that moment, Lize found out that the things that were blocking the sky weren’t clouds, but a pile of Wind Snakes. They didn’t stop fluttering their wings while greed and desire glittered in their green eyes. The darkness before her seemed endless.
The sound of the fluttering wings gave off a heavy pressure.
“Marlene!! Mr. Rhode!!”
Lize shouted out loud. The feelings of fear and sadness pierced through her heart. Her body trembled, even the scene before her became blurry. The Wind Snakes that were enjoying their meal seemed to hear her shouts. They screamed and rushed toward her like a locust. It was too late for her to lift her right hand. In the next moments, she felt their sharp fangs pierce through her throat…
She opened her eyes.
She was blankly staring at the tent in front of her and finally recovered. She turned around and saw Marlene was sleeping beside her. From her smile, it could be seen that she had a good dream.
“It’s a nightmare… It’s only a nightmare…”
Lize was relieved. She finally realized that both of her hands couldn’t stop trembling. The things that happened in her dream were too real; even now, she could still remember the faces, the blood. It was really disgusting…
“Ugh…!!”
Thinking until here, Lize felt an irreducible nausea. She quickly covered her mouth and went outside the tent. She crawled next to the gully and vomited.
“Uaghh…”
Crawling on top of the stones, her body felt weak. She couldn’t stop trembling. The cold wind blew and made her shiver like a rabbit feeling cold. Even so, she was still unable to forget the nightmare from before. It seemed so real. She subconsciously touched her throat and the scene of her throat being pierced by the sharp fangs once again flashed through her mind.
“Ugh…”
Lize looked down.
Why did it turn out to be like this? Didn’t I get over it? I should feel okay, Mr. Rhode also said that I’ll be okay. But I also don’t know why… It’s only a dream, Lize, cheer up. That kind of thing won’t happen again. You must remember, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid…
Lize tightly held her hands and didn’t stop talking to herself. However, her body was trembling even more; the coldness had pierced through her body. Her body that was breaking in cold sweat at first had completely turned numb, no longer listening to her command. At the same time, she felt really tired. She closed her eyes and fell into sleep…
At this time, a voice suddenly pulled her back to reality.
“Sister Lize, what happened?”
Lize lifted her head. She saw that Lapis was pulling her cloak, carefully walking out of the tent while looking at her. When she saw her, she seemed surprised, so she quickly got out from the tent and ran towards Lize.
“Sister Lize, what happened? Are you okay? Should I call…”
Halfway, Lapis paused. The one who was responsible for healing in the group was Lize, but now that Lize was the one sick, Lapis didn’t know who should she look for… She couldn’t ask Lize to take care of Lize, right?
“There’s no need,” Lize said, pulling Lapis’s hand. She bitterly smiled and shook her head.
“I had a nightmare and felt a bit tired… Can I sleep with you?”
Originally Lize planned to sleep in her own tent, but when she thought about Marlene, she immediately changed her mind. She wouldn’t be able to forget her nightmare after seeing Marlene again. She also didn’t want to wake Marlene up and make her worry, since this was Lize’s problem.
“Of course, there’s no problem!”
After hearing Lize’s request, Lapis agreed without hesitation. After that she carried Lize and carefully brought her into her tent.
Unlike the others, Lapis’s tent only had one resident. It wasn’t because she wanted to be special like Rhode, but as an alchemist, a quiet environment was very important to her. At this moment, a pile of alchemical tools were neatly placed next to the wooden plate in Lapis’s tent. There was a dark, green liquid rolling inside and it emitted a strange, pungent taste.
“Why haven’t you slept yet?”
“Leader told me that I must finish these things.”
Hearing Lize’s question, Lapis’s expression turned bitter and she helplessly answered. Hearing her answer, Lize smiled. Of course, she also knew why Lapis had such a tragedy. During the daytime, Rhode brought Shauna and others to find magical herbs in the forest. After that, he gave all the herbs and a certain formula to Lapis. Rhode wanted her to make a potion based on the formula. Although Lapis still wanted to argue some more with Rhode, he coldly told her to “stop blabbering and do what I told you to” and scared her back. At this moment, she could only do what Rhode told her to, and she didn’t even know what that was. Rhode didn’t want to explain it to her and only wanted her to do what he asked for. As for the rest, he didn’t seem to care.
Although Lapis felt that the leader was a little bit tyrannical, she has no other option, right?
She could only bite the bullet and agree. Since no matter what, the others already contributed to the mercenary group. Only she didn’t do anything. This made her feel a little bit guilty. Naturally, Lapis felt happy that she could finally contribute something to the group now.
“Come, Sister Lize. This is an herbal tea; it should make you feel better.”
Lapis handed a cup of tea to Lize. Lize took the tea while looking at the warm tent before her. It made her body and mind felt a lot better now.
“Thank you, Lapis. But… do you also look like this when you’re in the tent?”
Looking at the girl before her, Lize couldn’t help but feel curious. Although it was in the tent, Lapis kept her cloak on. It seemed that she didn’t plan to take it off; and not only her, her brother also did the same. Frankly, Lize had been curious about it for a long time.
“I have long since been used to this kind of appearance. Anyway, Sister Lize, are you really okay?”
Seeing Lize drink the warm hot tea cozily, Lapis uneasily asked once again. However, this time Lize bitterly smiled and shook her head.
“It’s really nothing, Lapis. I had a nightmare… It’s a nightmare that I don’t want to remember and talk about anymore.”
“Oh…”
After hearing what Lize said, Lapis seemed to understand and nodded. She didn’t clearly understand what Lize meant, but she knew since Lize didn’t want to talk about it, then it was better for her not to ask again. After that, she no longer said anything and turned around to sit in front of the wooden plate and continued to make her potion.
That’s right, it’s only a dream…
Sitting beside her, looking at Lapis’s figure, Lize gradually closed her eyes and felt extremely drowsy. After that, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Lize didn’t realize that when she was asleep, Lapis, who was busy making a potion, turned around and secretly glanced at her. She carefully walked towards Lize and covered her with a blanket. After that, looking at Lize’s pale and calm face, Lapis hesitated for a moment, reached into her pocket, and took out a greenish-white magic badge and put it on Lize’s forehead.
A green, comfortable light quickly emitted from the badge and warped around Lize’s body. After a moment, the light gradually faded. Lize’s originally stiff expression became a lot calmer. On the contrary, it was Lapis who frowned. She tightly clenched both of her hands, timidly and secretly glanced at Lize, then she looked outside the tent.
“It’s better if I tell leader about this…”
Lapis said to herself. She turned around and walked out from the tent.
